Fix the Planet newsletter: The weird and wonderful rivals to batteries
As Scotland announces the building of 17 enormous wind farms off its coast, we look at the novel solutions for storing the electricity they will produce
20/01/2022 NewScientist
2022
Best News of 2022
Good things happen every month. Hence in the tradition of the year in review we like to remind you of three randomly selected news articles of each month.
January
First ever human trial confirms magic mushrooms are safe to treat mental health patients
A psychedelic chemical found in magic mushrooms is safe to give to people in small doses, early research suggests. The findings from King’s College London are based on a trial which gave 60 people psilocybin in either a 10 or 25 milligram dose.
04/01/2022 Telegraph
February
Sickle cell: ‘The revolutionary gene-editing treatment that gave me new life’
Jimi Olaghere thought he would have to wait decades to be freed from his sickle cell disease - but now scientists have engineered his blood to overcome the disease which left him in constant pain.
20/02/2022 BBC
Solar-powered car that can ‘drive for months without charging’ to hit roads this summer
A solar-powered car has travelled hundreds of kilometres on a single charge, marking a major milestone towards bringing the “world’s most efficient and sustainable” vehicle to the market.
10/02/2022 The Independent
Basic income: Wales pilot offers £1,600 a month to care leavers
Every 18-year-old leaving care will be offered £1,600 a month under the Welsh government's basic income pilot. It is expected about 500 people will be eligible to join the scheme, which is being launched this year and could cost up to £20m over…
15/02/2022 BBC
March
In order to be saved from misinformation, we need to be exposed to it
Empowering current and future generations to detect and dismiss false and misleading information will be pivotal in developing a democracy resilient to the threat of online misinformation.
02/03/2022 The Conversation
April
Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fall to lowest on record
Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to a record low in the financial year that ended March 2021, government figures showed on Friday, a result of slower industry activities amid the pandemic and wider use of renewable energy. The 5.1 percent…
15/04/2022 Al Jazeera
May
Meet the guy who wants to help save the planet with thousands of buoys, seaweed and giant antacids
As a kid growing up on the Gulf of Maine, he'd jump from boat to boat on Portland docks humming with the kind of energy that once hauled hundreds of thousands of pounds of cod into port each day. "People were making money," Odlin wistfully told…
22/05/2022 CNN
Tidal Power: The New Wave of Hydroelectricity?
Hydropower is one of humanity's oldest forms of energy, but there are still vast areas of the sector left unexplored.
30/05/2022 Reset.org
Growing African mangrove forests aim to combat climate woes
In a bid to protect coastal communities from climate change and encourage investment, African nations are increasingly turning to mangrove restoration projects, with Mozambique becoming the latest addition to the growing list of countries with large…
06/05/2022 The Independent
June
The regenerative farm working to improve soil without fertilisers
Lettuces are sprouting, the wildflowers are in bloom and a buzzard is circling above the meadow on a sunny spring day at Huxhams Cross Farm near the village of Dartington in Devon.
03/06/2022 The Guardian
July
‘Fonio just grows naturally’: could ancient indigenous crops ensure food security for Africa?
With sweeps of his arm, Jean-Pierre Kamara showers handfuls of tiny seeds over the freshly ploughed land near his village in Senegal’s southern foothills.
07/07/2022 The Guardian
How to preserve secrets in a quantum age
It is not often that a bit of mind-bending mathematics can avert disaster. But researchers at America’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (nist) have done their bit: last week, after years of analysis, they gave their stamp of approval…
13/07/2022 Economist
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August
The Long, Leguminous Quest to Give Crops Nitrogen Superpowers
Farmers have to apply heaps of emissions-heavy fertilizer to provide crops with enough nitrogen. Scientists are looking to legumes for help.
30/08/2022 Wired
September
One big change is coming to clinical drug trials. And it's 'no longer lip service.'
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, one major change is coming to clinical drug trials: More diversity.
30/09/2022 USA Today
October
Laser brain therapy offers hope to epilepsy sufferers in England
Hundreds of people with hard-to-treat epilepsy will be offered laser therapy targeting the brain on the NHS in England from next year. A tiny laser inside a probe in the skull enables doctors to destroy brain tissue causing seizures.
22/10/2022 BBC
November
Kids in Brazil’s favelas are eliminating dengue fever – by breeding mosquitos
It might sound counterintuitive, but children in Brazil are breeding mosquitoes at home as part of a life-saving health initiative
16/11/2022 Positive News
The company making steaks out of thin air
It was space travel that inspired scientist Lisa Dyson to create an unusual climate solution: protein made from air, which can be grown inside a tank instead of using up valuable land.
15/11/2022 CNN
Lab-grown blood given to people in world-first clinical trial
Blood that has been grown in a laboratory has been put into people in a world-first clinical trial, UK researchers say. Tiny amounts - equivalent to a couple of spoonfuls - are being tested to see how it performs inside the body.
07/11/2022 BBC
December
In Bolivia, literacy training makes a profound difference
Bolivia is one of the poorest nations in South America, and nearly a fourth of its citizens could not read nor write a generation ago
05/12/2022 The Independent
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